The Planetary Science group is part of the Astronomy and Astrophysics research group of the University of Alicante (Spain).

The group belongs to the Institute of Physics Applied to Science and Technology (Instituto de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, IUFACyT) and to the Department of Physics, System Engineering and Signal Theory (DFISTS) of teh University of Alicante

Our main research topics are related to small bodies of the solar system. In particular, we study the internal structure of small asteroids, impact processes in the main asteroid belt and the trans-neptunian region. Numerical simulation of such processes is our main tool. We also performed laboratory experiments of shattering physics at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range.

Our observing activity was related in the past to the Canadian-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS) of trans-neptunian objects, while we currently collaborate in the occultation campaigns leaded by J. L. Ortiz (IAA) and other research plans (ALVARO/TONI…).

Our group is involved in activities related to the mitigation of risk from asteroid impacts on Earth. Our main committment is with the Hera (ESA) and DART (NASA) space missions to the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos, in the frame of the AIDA collaboration.

We are also partners of the NEO-MAPP EC Project.